Does the fact that we’re going to be feeding a large crowd mean that we are throwing our budget out the window? Of course we’re not. What is does mean is that we’re going to have to plan carefully to get the most bang for our buck this Thanksgiving. Here’s what we plan to do:

Get an accurate headcount of guests. You don’t need to buy an over-sized turkey and then have leftovers for days. Know how many people you are going to feed and buy a turkey that will feed those people. You don’t really want to eat turkey for weeks, anyway, do you?

Serve plenty of inexpensive side dishes. You can stretch your entrée (the turkey) farther by offering plenty of “fixings” to go with it. Stuffing is, of course, one staple. We also serve plenty of vegetables (purchased during sales and saved until we needed them). Instant mashed potatoes are easy to make (and inexpensive) for a crowd, too.

Skip heavy desserts. After everyone has gorged themselves on the traditional turkey dinner, who has room left for dessert? If you feel like you HAVE to have a dessert on hand, I would suggest baking some cookies. Guests can help themselves to one or two when they get the munchies throughout the evening. Gingersnaps or peanut butter cookies are some of my favorites for the fall season.

Ask everyone to bring a beverage. No matter how carefully I shop, drinks can really kill a food budget. Wine, beer, and soft drinks can quickly add up. We try to ease the strain of having the right drinks on hand by asking everyone to bring something with them. Some bring a bottle of wine they want to share; others bring their favorite cocktail. We, in turn, supply soft drinks and one type of beer. This method ensures that everyone has plenty to drink and a wide variety of choices.

Content provided by Not Made Of Money: Celebrating Thanksgiving on a Budget

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You might ask how many different personal finance gifts can there be. Well, let me tell you that there are tons. Don’t just take my word for it; check out this list. You will find gifts here that fit every recipient and every price point.

Personal Finance Books – There are personal finance books for almost anyone on your list. One of my personal favorites is Smart Women Finish Rich. There is also a “couples” version of this book. If kids are on your list, you can even check out some of Dave Ramsey’s Life Lessons with Junior books.

Coupon Organizer – Give your friend or family member the gift of organization and encourage them to stretch their dollars with coupons. You might even slip one or two into the organizer to get them started.

Personal Shredder – Show your friends and family that you’re worried about their welfare by protecting their identity. A small personal shredder is great for anyone who needs help disposing of their confidential papers.

Personal Finance Software – Help a friend make his personal finances more efficient by giving him a personal finance software package. Volunteering to give him a tutorial on running the program is a nice touch, too.

Wallet – Everyone needs something safe to keep his cash and credit cards in. Look for one that reflects the recipient’s personality to really evoke a smile from the lucky recipient.

Board Games – There are tons of different games that you can give that relate to money. Look for Payday, the Game of Life, or Monopoly at your local discount store.

Change Counter – You can encourage others to save their spare change by giving them one of those electronic change counters. Another alternative might be those tools you use to roll coins.

Stocks – Although you probably don’t want to make a huge investment for anyone on your Christmas list, you can still give a stock gift. Oneshare.com allows buyers to purchase one share in name brand companies like Disney or Harley-Davidson. You can even purchase cool frames to go along with it.

Play Money – Do you remember playing “store” when you were a kid? Well, kids still do that. At the dollar store, you can buy an inexpensive set of play money and let your kids practice handling their own cash.

Finance Magazine Subscription – Give a gift that lasts all year long: a subscription to a personal finance magazine. Money or Kiplinger’s are both good ones, but don’t be afraid to look at more specialized ones, too. Entrepreneur is a very interesting magazine directed at small business owners while Money Advisor gives great advice for consumers.

Content provided by Not Made Of Money: Ten Personal Finance Related Gifts to Give for the Holidays

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I know it must seem like my husband and I are always on the same page, but the truth is that we have our differences just like any couple. There are some times that I’m sure he wonders why I bought a particular thing while there are other times that he makes shopping decisions that I don’t understand. Fortunately, we have found a way to reconcile our differences.

Have shared goals. Although your spouse may not agree with your approach to spending, you may find that it’s much easier to agree on goals. Where do you see yourself in five years? Will you be living in the same house? Will your family be the same size? Having shared goals to refer back to will give you common perspective to use as you make spending decisions.

Explain your spending attitude. If you are a saver and your spouse is a spender (or vice versa), a little explanation may go along towards bridging the gap between your attitudes. Perhaps you want to build a larger savings account because your family always scraped by when you were a kid. Because you don’t ever want to find yourself in that same hand-to-mouth situation, having a large savings account is important to you. Explaining to your spouse the reasoning behind your spending attitudes may help him understand where you are coming from. Don’t forget, though, to give him the same chance to explain his point of view.

Agree on an independent spending limit. My husband and I have agreed on a limited amount of money that we are allowed to spend without consulting each other. Our limit is $100. If I am out shopping and find a great deal on something, he will trust my spending decision. However, if the item costs more than $100, I have promised to call him first. Our arrangement works the same way for him, too.

Content provided by Not Made Of Money: How to Negotiate Spending Differences with Your Spouse

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If you’ve decided to undertake a frugal lifestyle, you may find yourself in the same boat. It’s easy to procrastinate when you are ready to undergo a major overhaul of your life. Finding a way to break this huge task down into simple steps could help you get started down your new path.

Create a budget that allows you to live within your means. Your budget should include all of your regular expenses and your monthly debt payments. Remember to only plan to spend the money you bring home each month. If you run out of money before you run out of expenses, you’ll need to increase your income or decrease your expenses.

Vow not to use debt to finance purchases that don’t fit into your budget. A key component of any frugal life is the absence of debt (or a decreasing amount of debt). Once you eliminate debt from your life, you’ll find that living within your monthly income will be much easier.

Find extravagances that you don’t need in your budget. At first glance, you may think that there isn’t any wiggle room in your monthly expenses. I suspect, though, that a closer inspection will reveal plenty of ways to save money. Cutting cable or satellite television, for instance, can be an easy way to save money. Don’t take anything for granted as you evaluate your expenses, and you’ll find the fat in your budget.

Use cash or debit cards for all of your purchases. The temptation to use a credit card (with the hope to find a way to pay the bill later) is far too great when you’re just starting down the path to frugality. Pay with cash or a debit card to make your purchases feel more “real.”

Have a family meeting. Now that you’ve decided to live a frugal life, you should share your decision with the entire household. Tell the kids what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and what the decision will mean to them. If you can get everyone on board to the plan right away, you will find it easier to encourage them accept the impending sacrifices that will be coming.

Content provided by Not Made Of Money: Five Steps to Take When Starting the Frugal Life

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My wife and I had planned an outing for our family over the weekend to visit a festival that was being held in one of our state parks. It was your garden variety festival, one where all types of different vendors set up their tents to sell their food or their arts and crafts. The home-made fudge and the hand woven figurines, so on and so forth.

Of course, whenever we decide to go to these types of things, we at the very least pack a good deal of snacks, if not a complete lunch. We do this for two reasons. First, because the prices for food at these festivals is ridiculous and second, most of the time they don’t have food that were interested in (we usually try to eat only healthy foods).

So anyways, we packed our picnic basket and off we went. Well, if you know anything about Atlanta, you know that a traffic jam can pop up at any time, and sure enough, we found ourselves stuck right in the middle of a doozy. It was a Saturday afternoon but from the looks of this thing it was a Friday at 5:00 o’clock. We didn’t move for about 15 minutes.

It soon became apparent that we would miss the entire festival if we decided to wait out the traffic (we got a little bit of a late start).

So, we had to go to Plan B. And Plan B was visiting our favorite downtown shopping district. With this new plan, obviously there really wouldn’t be a place to set up our picnic food and sit down and enjoy it. Well, I ‘m sure we probably could have but it would have looked quite strange.

All of a sudden I felt this stress building inside of me. Normally, when we visit this spot, we almost always make sure to eat first so were not tempted to buy food at this place either. The restaurants are good but fairly upscale so once again, the food is a little pricey (of course, we have visited their restaurants, but only when we have a coupon). My stress came from realizing that we would have to get something to eat, and from the looks of it, we would be paying full price for wherever we went.

Well, not soon after, I “mentally” stopped and took stock of the situation. If I let this building “stress” of mine get to me, the whole outing would be ruined. Then, as I thought more about the situation, I thought, you know what—who cares?

I have jumped in head first to the whole rebate/coupon/shopping for good deals game, and I have saved myself and my family an immeasurable amount of money over the past several months. So now I am presented a situation where I know I’ll have to pay full price. Once again, I soon said to myself—who cares?

Now that I am firmly on track financially and usually don’t miss a deal with anything that I buy, it is easy to let this mindset take over your life. Really, it is. One can easily stay up till the wee hours of the morning looking for every last deal on every last thing that you buy. Well, if you let it get to this point, I think it takes away from the quality of the life that you are living.

I try to save as much money as I can so I can get closer to living the life that I want to, but I also understand that sometimes you just need to forget about it. Of course, I don’t mean abandon the mindsets and attitudes that got me to this point; I just mean that I refuse to let it overtake my life.

For all the money that I have saved over the past several months—ONE trip to ONE restaurant paying full price is not going to kill me.

I managed to wash these thoughts away from my mind; we all strolled into one of these upscale restaurants, sat down and had a wonderful meal. Wonderfully overpriced, but a wonderful meal.

So when formulating your list of saving money ideas, life your life first, then save your money.

About The Author:
David Bakke is the creator and author of the personal finance blog Your Finances 101. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida. After many years in corporate restaurant management, David currently serves as a department manager in the retail industry. David resides with his wife and son outside Atlanta, GA. His book Don’t Be A Mule: A Common-sense Guide to Saving More, Spending Less, and Generating Extra Income in Your Everyday Life is available at Amazon.

Content provided by Not Made Of Money: Guest Post – Save to Live, Don’t Live to Save—Saving Money Ideas

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